What Ever Happened To...?---Part One.

Ya know, I've come to realize that the toys and stuff we had when I was little don't even compare to the ones that kids these days have.

I mean, when I was little, all we had to get from place to place was a wagon, Big Wheel, bicycle, tricycle, or our own feet. Kids nowadays, however, have those things, and then some. They've got the Power Wheels Jeeps, motorcycles, cars, etc., those red and yellow colored cars that toddlers 'drive' in like the Flintstones, and scooters (that they also make that are motorized, even). Amongst many other things, but that's a long enough list for me, lol. If I wanted to drive a car when I was a kid, I had to use a chair, a lid from the kitchen, and my imagination.

I also remember the day when the only video game console I had was an Atari. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that if I were to take a poll right now, there'd be some people that would ask "What the hell is an Atari?" or they'd be like "Atari? Are you talking about the band The Ataris?" Now, I have just about every game console known to man, I think. Every kid you ever talk to now, and ask what they like to do, their response is "Play video games."

What ever happened to jump ropes, blowing bubbles, coloring books, finger paints, paint-by-number books, and those watercolor painting books that had the red, green, yellow, and blue paint already on the side of the page, and all you had to do was add water to your brush? I've tried to find coloring books in Wal-Mart, and to this day, I still haven't seen any.

It almost seems like kids now don't have to worry about having an imagination. I've seen 3D sidewalk chalk advertised on TV. 3D sidewalk chalk?? What the hell, dude? You draw on the sidewalk, and then wear these special glasses that make everything you drew appear 3D. Like, really? Can kids not just draw and PRETEND anymore? Instead everything has to be 'real'.

On the note of "pretend"...what ever happened to kids playing House, School, Doctor, Dog, etc.? That was THE thing to do way back when.

I remember being in kindergarten and playing House with all my classmates. It was almost as if you weren't 'cool' if you didn't play. There was a little kitchen set made out of ply wood set up in the class room, and the window(s), stove top burners, knobs (for the stove), and everything was DRAWN on like a cartoon. Now if you buy a kitchen set, it actually has to MAKE the noises on the stove, microwave, sink, etc. And, all the doors and stuff are actually functional.

I guess it just goes to show how things change, and how fast they do it. It's kind of depressing to think that all the toys I played with as a kid that I've saved for my kids when I have them, are all going to be antiques. I've got a little four-wheeled scooter thing that I used to ride around all the time, and it's already an antique. I don't know...maybe I'm just realizing that here I am, almost twenty years old, and things I used to enjoy playing with and doing, are no longer that 'cool'.

Anyway...I think I'll let you all go, now. lol. I'm going to make at least one more part to this sometime. I could go on and on about stuff that I remember growing up with that kids now wouldn't even know what I was talking about, but this is enough for now. Thanks for reading!

xox--Jess